Chapter 41

He doesn't know where he's going. He's walking on autopilot, letting his intuition guide him to an answer or something like it. After all, there have been a few times where his intuition actually helps him when Tsuna wants. And it seems today, that little alien living inside his head is feeling generous as it does tell him where to walk when to stop, and continue. It's peaceful in a way, to just trust and let oneself go. It reminds him of the times when he was a kid when his mom grabbed his hand and took him on walks. He could enjoy the trip without worrying if he was taking the right path. He can now appreciate that.

"I know where you're taking me," he murmurs to no one.

And he does know. The trip is different but once he's on a familiar street he recognizes the place: His new apartment building.

He doesn't enter, doesn't want to see Ornella-san and make polite conversation. So he sits on the steps leading to the inside of the building and places his chin on top of his knees. He stays there for a long time, he doesn't know how much as he left his cellphone in Dimtr's hands. He doesn't know why his intuition led him here, but soon he will find out, he knows it.

"Natsu?"

Tsuna opens his eyes, not knowing when he closed them. In front of him is a smiling kid. He doesn't recognize him for a long second.

Then it clicks. "Mateo?"

"Yup!"

He glances back at the building as he remembers the little kid he helped find his mom months ago before he met Renato. "Do you live here?"

Mateo smiles as if he's said something funny. "No. My aunt lives here. Mom is busy today, you see. He left me with her."

"And where's she? Did she leave you alo—"

His brain stops working when he sees the woman running behind Mateo with a scowl on her face. Mostly because that's Lal Mirch. He's one hundred percent sure. She looks exactly the same she did on that trip to the future, with the only difference being the scar around her eye.

"What did you run for, you little brat?! You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"I was hungry, aunt Lal!"

"That's not a good excuse, you—Wait. Who are you?"

Yep, that suspicious look, as if she were looking at a nasty bug is all Lal, okay.

"I'm Natsu," he says quickly if only to stop her from glaring at him. "I live here. Will live… Er. Nice to meet you?"

She snorts. "And you know the little brat, how?"

"He helped me find my mom! Remember? It was a looong time ago."

"I think I remember your mom mentioning it." She adjusts her jacket and lessens her glare. "Thanks for that, by the way."

Tsuna is still a little bit surprised by everything so he just says, "Sure."

She rolls her eyes, probably thinking he's just a perv by how he hasn't stopped staring at her. "Anyways, let's go, kid. You said you were hungry, right?"

"I am!"

With a skip on his step, he follows Lal Mirch to the inside of the building.

It takes him a moment longer before he says out loud, "You were always guiding me towards them, weren't you?"

Something like dread forms in the pit of his stomach as he starts coming to a horrible conclusion. And when he turns around, he's not surprised to find the ramen shop across the street. He suspects Daemon is somehow spying on him all the time, which is creepy but also useful in times like this when he wants to demand explanations and just talk about his problems without the need to hide the truth.

(Something tells him that if Daemon had an actual body, his flames would have tried to harmonize with him, too.

It's a scary thought)

"What can I offer you on this beautiful day, Tsunayoshi?" Daemon says with a smirk the moment he enters.

"Is it true?"

The mist makes a notepad appear from thin air and writes on it. "The special, then."

"I'm serious. Stop this—this game. I need to know if…"

"If your body is self-destructing? If so, the answer is yes." At his horrified silence, he continues, "What did you think? You're sustaining the arcobaleno curse without having the curse itself."

He swallows. "Will I die, then?"